A typical lever type electrical connector assembly includes a first connector which has an actuating lever rotatably mounted thereon for connecting and disconnecting the connector with a complementary mating second connector. The actuating lever and the second connector typically have a cam groove/cam follower arrangement for drawing the second connector into mating condition with the first connector in response to rotation of the lever. Such lever type connectors often are used where large forces are required to mate and unmate a pair of connectors. For instance, terminal and housing frictional forces encountered during connecting and disconnecting the connectors may make the process difficult to perform by hand.
A common structure for a lever type electrical connector of the character described above is to provide a generally U-shaped lever structure having a pair of lever arms which are disposed on opposite sides of the first ("actuator") connector. The lever arms may have cam grooves for engaging cam follower projections or posts on opposite sides of the second ("mating") connector. One of the problems with such structural combinations is that the lever arms have a tendency to spread apart under high mating force loads encountered during mating of the connectors when rotational forces are applied to the lever structure. Another problem involves the cam follower projections or posts on the mating connector, which have a tendency to break when the connector housings are molded of plastic material. Still another problem involves the mating connector "cocking" when drawn by the lever structure into mating position with the actuator connector. A further problem involves the inability of holding the mating connector in a pre-mating position while manipulative efforts must be used to rotate the lever to draw the mating connector into full mated position with the actuator connector. The present invention is directed to solving this myriad of problems which continue to be detrimental to the use of lever type electrical connectors.